The
famous"Welcome
to Fabulous Las
Vegas”sign on south Las Vegas Boulevard really is
not located in (or even close to) Las Vegas.
While many people believe this sign marks the
official entrance to Las Vegas, the city limits
are actually some four miles north. The area
between the sign (on the southern end of the
strip) and the Stratosphere Hotel-Casino is
actually in the township of Paradise, Nevada.
The real Las Vegas is down
town.

Glitter Gulch - Downtown Las
Vegas

The downtown area is
completely separate from the Strip. To
get there, you go about a mile north of
the Strip on Las Vegas Boulevard to
Fremont Street ...named after John C.
Fremont, an early (mid-1800's) explorer
of the American West. Fremont Street was
the first street to be paved in Las Vegas
...in 1925.

Gambling was legalized in 1931 and
Fremont Street was transformed into
Glitter Gulch with hundreds of neon
signs. But little by little, casinos
opened south of town on what would become
the Las Vegas Strip.

The era
of the megaresort arrived in 1989 when Steve
Wynn opened The Mirage. It was followed by
about a dozen new hotels along the strip.
Instead of gambling, the main attraction was
now family vacations ...something down town
never adopted. Downtown is all about
gambling.

Over the next decade, there was a mass exodus
of tourists and construction away from downtown
to the Las Vegas Strip. To combat the drop in
visitors, the Fremont Street Experience was
built in 1994 to lure tourists back
downtown.

To get downtown, take the No. 301 or 302 Strip
bus north from any location along the Strip.
Get off at Fremont Street, about a mile north
of the Stratosphere Hotel. The Fremont Street
Experience is west of Las Vegas
Boulevard.

After you get off the bus you will
notice, Neonopolis ...the first
building on the right. This multimillion dollar
attraction opened in 2002 and was supposed to
have been a three-story entertainment,
restaurant and shopping complex to compliment
the existing Neon Museum and its antique signs.
But multiple anchor tenants backed out. A
14-screen theater is a major component of the
project. By agreement, there is no casino and,
so far, the complex is largely empty. The
future of this struggling complex is unknown
and the property has been put up for
sale.

The
Fremont Street
Experienceis a one-of-a-kind
entertainment venue extending four blocks
along Fremont Street. It consists of a
1,500 foot long, 90-foot high overhead
canopy between several hotels along
Fremont Street from Las Vegas Boulevard
to Main Street.

This section was permanently closed to
automobile traffic and made into a
covered pedestrian promenade for tourists
to stroll along.

A
"must-see" - Downtown
Vegas

The
canopy’s twelve million lights are
computer animated to make up the world’s
largest cartoon screen. At the top of the
hour beginning at dusk and continuing until
midnight, all of the casinos turn off their
neon lights, and the ceiling comes alive with a
stunning light show. A state-of-the-art sound
system pumps more than half a million watts of
music and sound effects into speakers placed
along its length.
The objective of the Fremont Street Experience
was to revitalize downtown and make it an
exciting place to visit. So far, the success
has been limited. But some 10 to 15 million
visitors do come downtown each year to see and
hear the free concerts, special events, and
roaming street performers every night.

Let’s walk down Fremont
Street on the right (west) and come
back on the other side of the street. The first
hotel along the Fremont Street Experience is
the Fremont.

The Fremont
Hotel-Casinoopened in 1956. It has 447 small rooms, a
32,000 square foot casino ...and little else.
Table minimums are lower than on the Strip,
typically $5, and is a favorite of elderly
local low-rollers. It is owned by Boyd Gaming
who also own the California Hotel-Casino and
Main Street Station Casino Brewery and Hotel
downtown.

Binion's Gambling
Hall-Saloon

Binion's Gambling Hall &
Hoteloriginally opened as the Horseshoe in
1951 and became Binion’s Horseshoe
in 1966 ...named for its founder, Benny
Binion. The family-owned hotel is the
original home of the legendary World
Series of Poker (WSOP). It was closed by
the IRS for non-payment of taxes in
January 2004. Two months later, Harrah's
bought the Horseshoe for the purpose of
obtaining the brand name and the World
Series of Poker.

The 366
room hotel-casino was then sold to West
Virginia-based MTR Gaming, a racetrack
operator. Binion’s is home to the Poker
Hall of Fame photo gallery which highlights
winners of the annual World Series of Poker.
The gambling is OK, but the rooms (even though
low priced) are lousy.

The Vegas Cluband the Plaza (next door)was
bought by Barrick Gaming in March 2004. The
property has a large collection of sports
memorabilia in its Sports Hall of Fame,. The
walls are covered with photographs, posters,
jerseys and an autographed baseball bat
exhibit. Waitresses wear cheerleader outfits.
Barrick is currently in the process of
restoring and updating these properties. Hotel
has 418 sports-themed rooms with low prices
...and quality to match.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce unveiled
aneon
sign character named Vegas
Vic- a
40-foot neon cowboy - on Fremont Street in
1947. He is still there and is downtown's most
famous neon sign. It can be found near the west
end of Fremont Street underneath the
canopy.

Plaza Hotel-Casinois located right at the very end
of the Fremont Street Experience. This hotel
(which dates back to the 1940's) is located at
the Union Pacific Railroad terminal and trains
still use it as a depot. In 1971 the Union
Hotel was renamed Union Plaza, and in 1992 it
became Jackie Gaughan's Plaza. The hotel has
1,037 (375 square foot) rooms ($50/night class)
in two towers and an 80,000 square foot casino.
At one time, it was the biggest hotel in
Nevada. The Plaza is now one of the downtown
hotels owned by Barrick Gaming. They used to
have $1 blackjack tables and penny slots but
maybe not now with the new ownership. This
24-floor property is showing its age but
Barrick plans to update it.

The Main Street Station Casino Hotel
& Breweryopened in 1977 and is located at the far
northwest corner of downtown, a couple of
blocks from the Fremont Street Experience.
Owned by Boyd Gaming, this turn-of-the-century
old world Victorian-themed property has a large
collection of antiques, memorabilia and stained
glass. There is also a piece of the Berlin Wall
in the men’s restroom. Their Garden Court
Buffet is one of the best ones downtown.
(Breakfast is only $5.75.) This may be second
best hotel downtown. (430 rooms.)

The California Hotel &
Casinois a
781 room (23 floor) Hawaiian-themed hotel owned
by Boyd Gaming. It opened in 1975 and caters
primariy to tourists from Hawaii. Rooms are
about $50/night.

You should be at the corner of Main
Street and Fremont. Next, let’s
walk back (east) toward Las Vegas Boulevard
under the Fremont Street Experience
canopy.

The historic Golden Gate
Hotel-Casinofirst opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada
and is the oldest (their address is One Fremont
Street) and smallest hotel on the street with
only 106 rooms (3 floors.) It is where Las
Vegas started. In 1931 gambling was legalized
and the hotel changed its name to Sal Segav
(Las Vegas spelled backwards.) In the 1950's
the name became the Golden Gate ...named by its
San Francisco owners. They started serving
their famous shrimp cocktail in 1959 and has
been doing so ever since. (Cost: 99 cents,
available in the back Shrimp Bar &
Delicatessen.) It served its 25 millionth
shrimp cocktail in 1991. A piano plays nightly
in the center of the casino. (Rooms cost around
$50/night and are VERY small ...original size:
100 sq. ft.)

The Golden
Nuggetis the best and most upscale hotel in
downtown Las Vegas and is also the
largest with 1,805 guest rooms and 102
suites and penthouses. The property, one
of the oldest in Las Vegas, opened as
just a gambling hall in 1946.

In the early 1970's, Steve Wynn obtained
a controlling interest and renovated and
added hotel rooms to the Golden Nugget.
It was a huge success. (Rooms usually
cost around $50 to $75/night.) The Golden
Nugget buffet is excellent.

Golden Nugget -Downtown Las
Vegas

The hotel
has the world's largest gold nugget at 61
pounds 11 ounces on public
display. (Trivia: It was found
behind a school in 1980 by an individual using
a metal detector in Victoria, Australia.) There
is a painting in the lobby by LeRoy Neiman that
depicts high-stakes table games. In February,
2005, the hotel was bought by Landry
Restaurants of Houston, owner of Joe’s
Crab Shack (and many other brands).

The
Four Queens,named after the owner's four
daughters, opened in 1955 and is celebrating
its 50th anniversary this year. With dazzling
lights out front, the Four Queens takes up a
whole city block. It started out with 120 rooms
and, after several expansions, now has nearly
700 rooms (Rates: $40 to $50.). The Four Queens
has one of the best gourmet restaurants in Las
Vegas, Hugo’s Cellar. Ladies get a rose.
(Entrees: $30-$50.)

Wedding capital of the
world

Weddings in
Las Vegas are booming! –
An interesting place downtown to visit
isthe Marriage
Bureauat 200 S. 3rd Street, 1st floor. It
is located on South Third Street between
the Four Queens and Fitzgerald’s
Hotel-Casino ...go about a block south of
Fremont Street. It is open every day
until midnight and 24 hours on
holidays.

There will you see people getting
marriage licenses so they can get married
in Las Vegas. About 10 thousand marriage
licenses are issued in Clark County,
Nevada, every month ...that’s about
350 weddings a
day!

Fitzgerald'sopened in 1980 as the Sundance
hotel and casino. In 1986, new owners put in an
Irish theme and renamed the place Fitzgerald's.
At 34 stories, it is the highest building in
Downtown Las Vegas. (624 rooms, rates from
$50/night.) One of the best places to catch a
Fremont Street Experience light show is from
the second-floor balcony.

The Lady Luckopened in 1964. (Its original
name was Honest John’s.) 25 floors, neary
800 rooms. It has been sold again and is in the
process of being renovated. (Rooms about $50
night.) It is located at East Ogden Avenue and
Third Street, one block north of Fremont Street
...in back of Binion’s Hotel.

That ends our little visit to downtown
Las Vegas. To get back to the strip,
take the No 301 (local) or 302 (Express) Strip
bus from Fremont Street and Las Vegas
Boulevard, South.

Factoid: There are
15,000 miles of lighted neon tubing on the
Strip and Downtown ...enough to go more than
halfway around the world.

Factoid: There
are,5,429 paved roads in Nevada. And
33,010 miles of dirt or gravel roads.